Closure cap feeding device



Jan. 19, 1954 H, E, STQVER 2,666,563

CLOSURE CAP FEEDING DEVICE Filed Sept. 30, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 88) 5.3 g i y 66 INVENTOR. /arrg E.' 5701/61" Patented Jan. 19, 1954 `s'i"A'l'iz'zs 'PATENT forel ce n '32,666,566 1cLosUREfoA1 FEEDrNGt-Dnvron Anchor "Hocking Glass Corporation; Lancaster,

Ohiora corporation of Delaware Appuwtonseptemter 3o,!19491,7-seia1N0. iisgsoz ti/claims. (onzas-:smi

present inventan reines u) the reen-ag cef closure-caps, andmore particularly, .a flex/"ice,v which may be tilie'dv with sealing machines, for removingclosure caps -from 3a-stack fof.L caps and discharging them one at .a time.

This application'i'sinpart a continuation of applications Serial Nos.'579, 6"11 and '698,124'iiled .in thezUnited 'States PatehtOiiic'e onFebriiary 'izrglcisganaseptember 2o, 194e, new' Patents 2,529,199 and 12,6ia425, respectively.

In the food .packaging industry closure caps order to achieve such high ratesuvof ap'lgilicahe closurecaps must be delivered accurately Yc lcfisure.aps 'at high speed from a group'and ,laiieliverthemy one at va tim`e,-without marring Lpro'tetive lacquer coatings of the capsnand withjout"k ping or omitting -to deliver the caps ,atpi'oper intervals. -In addition,v the cap feeding fdevice should.v deliver ,a cap-Vonly'when there is a container (in, position to receive the cap. `A

'stillfuithereduirment of the cap feedingfde- 'vice' is that -it be Vsimple in .construction and operable over relatively long periods of time `with- 'out 'qiirin'gl excessive maintenance. l

4Thev provision f Va cap feedingv means `or device iiic'liding'a 4co'molination of all the'above'and varios'thendsirable qualities has` proven d i- 'lt 'Various constructions have been devised but theyhavepresented one or more difficulties. "For eiz'ainple,`,sonieof Ythemllave beenV too coml plilcated orfto. 'ipnsive, others Y-have; not pro- "vdfaccuate vseparation ,of closure caps from stacks one at a time over relativelyV longy periods of opration. .Still other constructions Ihave flocked' well 4onv a drawing Vboard ,-where. precise A`dimensionsand/cap sizes could'be depicted; but have not proven satisfactory in' actual usage due, vfor example, to the/fact that closure capsv ofa vgiven-size :are inet-:precisely identica-l with*V each --other butmust vary slightly intolerance's. lStill other constructions. Awhich have been attempted :have not performed: satisfactorilyl at ih i'gh speeds the yneigIlb'l.`j1"11' '5d'oif300540() `f500 caps dliv- Jfe'rd prininute.

veor lhr"'-diiulties or disadvantages by providing a new and improved 'cap feeding dee vorr'eiativeiy simpie'jeonstruction which' is :a aptedto'accurteiyseparate cise capsv one "a atiine from ajstack'rof caps and to discharge tlni''into.siiitalolefcap moving or cap rf-)ceiving Ascription and is shown 'in the means. The invention `further c'ontemplatestlie .provision of .such a cap 'feeding device which may be operated at high speeds 'without-.objectionably bouncing a stack of caps or settingfnp objectionable conditions rof resonance for A'harmoni'c vibration in a stack of caps. y. A

object of the present invention isftof prvvide a new and improv'eclkcap feedingde ice.

Another object of theinvntion isgto viole a new and improved cap feeding device which operates effectively Aat relatively high Spee/ds.

vAnother object of the invention-is to provide anew Aand ixmirovf-iclA cap feeding device which may Ibe operated. at relatively high speedsfwithout objectionably bouncing a stack of caps or setting up resonant conditions inra stack of caps.

-'into'a feeding or lowering recess of the' device.

A stili further' object of ure invenuciii to Vprfovidea cap feeding device embodying newfard improved means f or intermittently Ainterrup'ting the separation of capsV from a'stack. *y y v"Other and further objects of the inventionyvill v,be `obvious upon an understanding of the-illustra-tive embodiment Yabout to be desarmed,V or will ,be indicated in the appendedcl'aimm and various advantages not referred to herein 'will ,Y loccur to one skilled in the art upon employment of 'the invention in practice. A A

A preferredjembodiment of the inventiony has been chosen for purposes of illustration and dl accompanying drawing'aorming a :part of the specification, wherein: y Fig. 1 va sectional view illustrating onefor-m of the' present invention, together with a cap .delivering means;

pFig'. la is an enlarged fragmentary vieu/,Av partly lin section, showingfusome ofthe parts .of Fig.,=,1;

, means generally similar to that of Rigs.` l and 11a Fig. is a surface `development of the cap separating and feeding parts shown in Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line 6 6 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 7 is a front end View of the reciprocable latch or interrupting member shown in Fig. 4;

Fig. 8 is a top plan View of the rotatable separator and feeder part shown in Fig. 4;

Fig, 9 is an enlarged fragmentary View, partly in section, of an improved form of cap feeding means generally similar to that of Fig. 4;

Fig. 10 is a surface development of the cap separating and feeding parts shown in Fig. 9; and

Fig. l1 is a front end View of the reciprocable latch or interrupting member shown in Fig. 9.

While the present invention may be used with various types and sizes of closure caps it will, for purposes of convenience in illustration and description, be described chiefiy with reference to a closure cap of the type illustrated in Norman N. Holland Patent No. 1,909,406.

The cap feeding device is illustrated in Fig. '1 utilized to feed closures from a stack to an inclined guideway or chute Ill. The closure feeding device and inclined guideway of this gure are particularly useful in feeding the closure caps to straight-in-line type sealing machines, but the closure feeder may be used with various other sealing machines, for example, those of the rotary type.

A stack of closure caps may be placed in the inclined cylindrical chamber I so as to rest against inclined spaced rods 2 carried by a base portion 4. If desired the chamber and the stack of closure caps may be vertical. stack is shown resting at an edge or side 5 thereof against a base portion 'I of the inclined slide I@ and at an opposite edge against the mechanism for separating the caps one by one.

The mechanism for separating the lowermost cap from the stack and delivering it comprises a rotor or rotary means I! preferably made in two parts and dowelled together by a pin I3 (Fig, la)

` to serve as a single rotatable element. rl`he lower member or bottom part I4 has an inclined or spiralled groove or recess I2 for feeding or forcing the side portion of the bottom cap downwardly. The upper part II has an elongated tongue I8 for entering between two bottom caps and separating the bottommost cap from the stack. Acam surface I9 below the tongue I8 leads to the upper part of the feeding groove I5 to direct or force the bottommost or separated cap into the groove. A cam surface 25 (Fig. la) spaced circumferentially from the tongue I8 permits the stack of caps to ride down, upon clockwise rotation of the rotor, so that the bottommost cap is in the receiving recess 2l and below the tongue I8. In this position the bottom cap rests upon the ledge or shoulder 22 which is intermediate and joins the inclined surface with the inclined leading edge 23 of the narrower recess I5. As the rotor I l continues to turn, the cap thence moves into the circumferential recess intermediate the ledge and the underside of the tongue; this latter recess or channel below the tongue leads to the spiral recess or channel I5 in the outer surface of the rotor.

Preferably the bottom part I is conical in shape so that the closure, as it drops about its upper or The lowermost cap of a Y A. that the rotor is turned one revolution a closure is delivered.

The cap receiving recess 2I and inclined cap feeding recess I5, together with the connecting ledge 22, may be of any suitable width or length, depending upon the sizes and shapes of the particular closure caps to be fed. Likewise, the length and width of the tongue portion I8 spaced above the ledge 22 may be varied in accordance with the closure caps to be fed.

It has been found that this relatively simple feed operated by the continuous rotation of the rotor I I will feed closures at a rate of several hundred or more a minute. A rapid feed of this type is particularly desirable where the sealing machine is operated with a dual action sealing head for sealing small sizes of containers.

The rotor II may be driven from a shaft 25 through bevel gear 26, meshing bevel gear 28, shaft 29, gear mounted on shaft 29, and meshing 45 spiral gear 3l carried by shaft 32, shown mounted in a suitable bushing 33. The rotor Il is secured to the lower portion of the shaft 32 by a nut 34. The drive shaft 25 may be operatively connected to a driving connection or additional shaft in any suitable manner.

If containers move into the sealing machine in consecutive order the cap feed can be timed to feed a closure for each container. In practice, however, a filling machine may be stopped for some reason or a container may be removed before it reaches the sealing machine. For this reason it is desirable to have a closure cap fed as each container approaches a steam injector shown adjacent the lower portion of the inclined guideway I. To accomplish this the latch or slide member is provided with an end portion 4I at its end adapted to be inserted under the edge of the stack of closures to prevent the closure from being fed by the tongue I8 and the cooperating recess or channel. This latch member 4G has a recess fitting about the shaft 32 and has an upper surface at its outer pointed end 4I substantially at the height of the upper disc-like member Il. When the latch member is forced to the leit closures cannot be fed. When the latch member is moved to the right the rotor II and the tongue I8 feed a closure once during each revolution of the shaft 32. The rotation of the shaft 32 is timed to rotate once whenever a container passes the injector.

The latch member 40 may be controlled in any suitable manner; as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, an arm 44 integral with the sleeve 45 on the shaft 45 engages in a slot 48 in the slid able latch member 40 to control the movement of it. The sleeve 45 is operatively connected with an arm through vertical shaft 5I, arm 52 thereon, link 53 and arm 54 on shaft 46. The cam roller 55 on arm 5f) engages a cam surface 56 on a pivoted feeler or arm 5l'. Movement of the feeler about its pivot may be limited by means of a pin 58 extending through a slot 53 in the feeler. The feeler is normally in the path of the containers moved along by any suitable conveyor. Whenever a container passes, the arm 51 is forced outwardly by the container, which causes the cam surface to move the arm 59 and rock the vertical shaft 5I which in turn rocks the sleeve 45 on shaft 46 and retracts the latch member 45, thus permitting a closure to be fed.

The timing of the operations is preferably such that a closure is fed to the bottom of the guideway I5 at or prior to the time that a container reaches the lower end of the guideway. Thus port a. stack of caps, the stack is not lifted by any objectionable amount, and so that when the latch is moved toward the right the stack is not dropped any objectionable amount but is gradually lowered and released onto the closely adiacent upper surface of the separator member 80. It is believed that the foregoing is the reason for the greatly improved feeding and smoother movement of the caps from the stack and the elimination or minimization of any tendency to create a resonant condition in a stack of closure caps being fed. At first glance the diiiiculty might not appear of great importance but when the high rate of feed, in some instances as high as five hundred a minute, is realized, the importance of overcoming the difficulty is readily apparent.

The drive for the rotor 82 may be similar to that described in connection with Fig. 1, the rotor 83 being carried by a rotatable shaft 88.

The construction and operation of the cap feeding device illustrated in Figs. 9, 10 and 11 is along the lines of that of Figs. 4 to 8. The separator or upper member 02 of Figs. 9 and l0 is, however, of a diameter about equal to that of the upper portion of the lower member |03 and has a smooth or planar upper surface it. The slide or latch member It is supported on a stationary portion and may be guided in its to and fro movement by a pin carrying a bushing |01 extending into a recess IES. When the slide is withdrawn to the right (Fig- 9) a bottom closure cap of a stack rests at one edge against the upper portion of the separator member It?, which is dowelled to and rotates with the lower member |63. As the members |02, E03 rotate, the lowermost closure slides along the moving inclined leading edge H0 of the upper separator member and reaches the horizontal portion III which lies spaced downwardly with respect to the f undersurface of elongated tongue |00. Further rotation of the members moves the leading edge of the elongated tongue |00 between the lowermost cap and the next higher cap and thus separates the bottom cap from two others of the stack. k

The lowermost closure then moves downwardly into the feeding groove l I3, from which it is discharged into any suitable guiding or moving` means for` delivering it to a container.

The flat upper surface IEiI of the rotor shown in Figs. 9 and 10 is preferred to that shown in Figs. 4 and 5 whichhas a raised rib or edgegl, as the former tends to give lesser movement of a cap stack. However, the form of Figs. 4 and 5 is useful with cap stacks of certain weights and dimensions.

The leading edge im of the slide or latch |05 shown in 9-11 is generally similar to that shown in Figs. 4 and '7 in that it has a gentle slope or sort of blunt knife edge. The construction permits smooth and ready entry between closure caps of a stack without setting the entire stack into objectionable bouncing or vibratory movement.

The latch may be operated by mechanism similar to that previously disclosed and the separator |02 and feeder 03 of the rotor may be operated from a shaft i it in a similar manner.

Various suitable dimensions and widths may be used for the various inclined surfaces and recesses of the rotors of Figs. i and 9. In some instances excellent results have been obtained by employing an inclined leading edge (0E, Fig. 5 and |I0,

-Fig. 10) which extends about 60 around the rotor circumference, a ledge (89, Fig. 5 and III,

Fig. 10) which extends about 110 from the lower end of the inclined portions (88, IIO) to the tip of the above elongated tongues (80, |00) a tongue that extends around the rotor about 50 to 65, and a downwardly inclined trailing edge (89, Fig. 5 and II5, Fig. 10) of about 20 circumferential extent. Of course other suitable measurements or dimensions may be used, those given being illustrative.

It will be seen that the present invention provides a new and improved cap feeding device of relatively simple construction and operation which is adapted to operate over long periods of time without requiring an excessive amount of maintenance. Closure caps are supported out of contact with the rotary part of the device during intervals when containers are not moving into cap receiving position. When containers are moving toward cap receiving position the caps move into a cap receiving recess or entrance opening of the device and a lowermost cap is separated from the stack, moves along a supporting ledge beneath the cutting-out tongue, and thence moves downwardly through the cap feeding recess of the rotary member. `The increased taper toward the bottom of the rotatable member facilitates the feeding of closure caps which may vary from optimum diameter of the closure, closures of smaller diameter dueto minimum tolerances being supported by an outwardly sloping portion of the rotary member. Thus closure caps of minimum tolerances are prevented from dropping past the rotary member without coming into contact with the inclined cap feeding recess therein. The improved construction whereby the leading edge of the reciprocable latch member and the elongated tongue of the rotary member are positioned closely adjacent each other minimizes the possibility of a cap stack being set into resonant oscillation or vibration and hence greatly facilitates feeding of closures at all speeds from minimum to maximum.

As various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and without sacrificing any of its advantages, it is to be understood that all matter herein is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a closure cap feeding device, the combination of rotatable means for separating successive closure caps from a stack of closure caps, reciprocable means above and adjacent said rotatable means for supporting closure caps out of contact with said rotatable means, a housing carrying said rotatable means and reciprocable means, and a mounting shaft extending through a portion of said housing, said housing being swingable about the axis of said shaft into and out of operating position.

2. In a closure cap feeding device, a rotatable member having adjacent an upper portion thereof a cap receiving opening and having adjacent a lower portion thereof an inclined cap feeding recess comprising generally parallel front and rear walls joined by a bottom surface, said bottom surface being of increasing diameter from upper to lower portions thereof to thereby provide a bottom surface that slopes outwardly toward the bottom of said lower portion.

3. In a closure cap feeding device, a rotatable member having a circumferentially inclined cap feeding recess with a bottom wall that is circumferentially arcuate and tapers outwardly longitudinally of the axis of rotation of said member from upper to lower portions thereof.

4. In a closure cap feeding device, the combination of rotatable means for separating successive closure caps from a stack of closure caps, a reciprocable member projecting over and disposed in close proximity to said rotatable means adapted to support said stack and prevent feeding of closure caps to said rotatable means, a stationary guide member supporting and extending along said reciprocable member, one of said members having a guide slot therein extending in the direction of reciprocaton of said reciprocable member, and a guide pin secured to the other of said members and projecting into said slot for guiding said reciprocable member during its reciprocation.

5. In a closure cap feeding device, the combination of rotatable means provided with a tongue having a at rear upper surface portion and a front upper surface portion gently sloping downf wardly from the flat rear upper surface portion to a thin front edge for movement between the bottommost closure cap of a stack and the caps thereabove to separate said bottommost capV from the stack, and a reciprocable member above said rotatable means having a knife-like front edge formed by the junction of a downwardly sloping upper surface and a iiat lower surface, said at lower surface being superposed on and engaged with the iiat rear upper surface portion of the rotatable'means, and said reciprocable member being movable forwardly to position the knife-like edge thereof beneath one side of said stack of closure caps for supporting said stack and preventing feeding of said caps to said rotatable means.

6. In a closure cap feeding device, the combination of rotatable means provided with a tongue having a flat rear upper surface portion and a front upper surface portion gently sloping downwardly from the dat rear upper surface portion to a thin front edge for movement between the bottommost closure cap of a stack and the caps thereabove to separate said bottommost cap from the stack, and a reciprocable member above said rotatable means having a knife-like front edge and thin side edges formed by the junction of a downwardly sloping upper surface and a flat lower surface, said flat lower surface being superposed on and engaged with the flat rear upper surface portion of the rotatable means, and said reciprocable member being movable forwardly to position thev knife-like edge thereof beneath one side of said stack of closure caps for supporting said stack and preventing feeding of said caps to said rotatable means.

HARRY E. STOVER.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 962,316 Cobb June 21, 1910 1,967,254 Murch July 24, 1934 2,102,605 Bach Dec. 21, 1937 2,172,402 Nordquist Sept. 12, 1939 2,330,229 y Maher Sept. 28, 1943 A FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 465,436 Great Britain May rI, 1937 

